By Rory Glynn
Enquirer contributor

Atlanta Hawks' DerMarr Johnson watches his team play the Chicago Bulls in November in Atlanta. (AP file photo) | ZOOM |

ATLANTA - It's the final, dreary days of the season for the Atlanta Hawks, a team that guaranteed fans a playoff appearance but delivered another NBA draft lottery instead. The coach was fired in December, the general manager jettisoned this month, and now, just one meaningless game and some practice time stand between the players and the golf course.

But at least one Hawk can't stand to see it end, because DerMarr Johnson is just getting started.

Sunday was seven months to the day since Johnson, less than three miles from his home, dozed off behind the wheel of his Mercedes in the wee hours of Sept. 13. He broke his neck when the car struck a tree.

Yet, beating all timetables, Johnson began playing some basketball in January, shooting with the team, taking part in limited drills, pushing to do more. He visited doctor after doctor; one by one, they agreed Johnson was a remarkably good healer, and at the end of March, the Hawks cleared him to resume full practices. His first came one week ago.

"It was great to see him out there," said Hawks coach Terry Stotts, who took over when Lon Kruger was fired Dec. 26. "Obviously, he has some work left to return to the player that he was."

Point guard Jason Terry, while not an unbiased observer - he's Johnson's closest friend on the team - was impressed. "He looked good - real good," Terry said. "Like he's ready to go."

Said Johnson: "It's real important for me to be evaluated. I have to show the Hawks what I can do."

If Johnson feels a sense of urgency about coming back, in part that's because in a couple of days, he's technically not going to have a team to come back to.

About six weeks after the accident, the team told Johnson it would not pick up the $3 million option on his contract.

There was no rancor involved. Pete Babcock, then the general manager, told Johnson the Hawks couldn't commit that kind of money to a player who might not be able to play. At the same time, he assured Johnson the team would take care of him in the event he was unable to resume his career, putting him to work in the front office if need be so Johnson could receive medical benefits. Johnson said he harbors no grudges: "I know this is a business."

But Johnson's challenge now is multiplied. He needs to show that he still has the skills that made him the No. 6 pick in the 2000 NBA draft after just one season at the University of Cincinnati, that he can withstand both the nightly rough and the occasional tumble of the NBA.

Promise, then tragedy

It wasn't supposed to go this way for Johnson, not this year. The 1999-2000 Conference USA freshman of the year, a spindly, 6-foot-9 package of skills, had shown plenty of potential in his first two seasons. Now, at 22, he was ready to firmly establish himself in the NBA.

Then, in an instant, Johnson's third season was gone.

Details of the accident are sketchy.

"One minute, I was stopped at a light," he said. "The next minute, they were pulling me out of the car."

Nothing in between?

"Nothing in between."

This is all he remembers: Johnson and two friends, Devon Williams and James Barnett, were returning to Johnson's house in the Cascades area of southwest Atlanta. They had visited some nightclubs earlier on the night of Sept. 12, and now it was around 4:30 a.m.

Johnson was behind the wheel of his Mercedes.

When Johnson awoke, he was being pulled from what was left of the Mercedes, which had struck a tree. Williams, his best friend, was pulling him.

While they had been at clubs, Johnson said he was not intoxicated, and police did not find alcohol to be a factor in the crash. Johnson surmises he fell asleep.

He was cut and bruised, and worse: Four fractured vertebrae. Barnett suffered broken ribs and a collapsed lung; Williams avoided serious injury.

The Hawks family kept vigil at Southwest Medical Center. Babcock, Kruger and club president Stan Kasten were there. Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Dion Glover, Theo Ratliff and others. And, of course, Terry. "Me and DJ, we're like brothers," Terry said. "To see him lying there, all bloody, bandages all over him ... it was rough."

Recovery gains pace

At the Shepherd Spinal Center, doctors decided against surgery, opting to let the bones heal on their own. Johnson was fitted with an enormous metal halo to stabilize his head.

Johnson's UC friends showed their support. Kenyon Martin visited. Johnson heard from Kenny Satterfield and Leonard Stokes, too, among others. "Coach Huggs (Bob Huggins) came, and about a week later, I hear he's had a heart attack," Johnson said.

Huggins recovered, of course, but events continued to swirl around Johnson.

His father, just 46, died of complications from surgery. Within a month, Johnson's girlfriend, back home in Washington, gave birth to his first son, and Johnson was allowed to travel home to hold him.

"It really was an emotional roller coaster for him," Terry said.

After seven weeks, doctors removed Johnson's halo and progress came quickly.

Where doctors said he'd need four months of recuperation before beginning workouts, he was dribbling and shooting again before Christmas. In late January, he was allowed to perform shooting drills during team practices. By early March, the jump shots had gotten old.

"I've always been optimistic - over-optimistic," Johnson said. "Don't get me wrong, the doctors know best. This is just how I am. I like to push myself.

"All along, I was doing stuff I probably shouldn't have been doing, working through pain and stuff."

An unbroken spirit

While Johnson has made steady improvement, the team has not. Atlanta is 35-46. Kruger, the coach who put Johnson in the starting lineup last season, was fired the day after Christmas. Babcock, the general manager who drafted Johnson and made him a cornerstone of the team's future, followed Kruger out the door in April.

Johnson is interested in staying in Atlanta, but absent Babcock and Kruger, this is a much different organization than the one he joined three years ago.

Johnson's agent, Dan Fegan, can't entertain offers from other teams until Johnson's contract expires after the season. He said while Johnson will play some summer-league ball, it's not the same showcase Johnson could have had this last month of the season, had the Hawks activated him a little earlier.But Johnson is content to take what comes. After all, he's been through worse.

Said Terry: "I'll tell you one thing (the accident) didn't break. His spirit."

Career highlights

Year	G	MPG	FG%	RPG	PPG
'00-01	78	16.8	.374	2.30	5.1
'01-02	72	24.0	.396	3.40	8.4
Career	150	20.3	.387	2.80	6.7

• Sixth pick in 2000 draft

• C-USA freshman of the year at UC